I have to finish the BLOG! I have to finish the BLOG! This has been my mantra for the past 6 months. It is just so hard to find the motivation to sit down and do it. So here it is: THE REST OF OUR TRIP!
We finally arrived in Cuzco. YAY!! Our first feat was to make our way through the swarm of not-so-honest taxi drivers outside the airport. Luckily I had asked our landlady how much it should be from the airport to the apartment (8 soles) because some of these guys were quoting us 20 or 30. Crazy!!
The apartment was on the 3rd floor which allowed for an amazing view of the city below but also presented a challenge due to our two large suitcases. Darren did an amazing job maneuvering his way up the narrow, winding staircase.
The city of Cuzco was a lot of fun. There was an overabundance of tourists and vendors but it was a fun city nonetheless. The plaza consisted of old buildings and cathedrals and was a fun place to sit and people-watch.
We relaxed for the first couple of days in order to acclimate to the elevation change and to get some much needed sleep. Later that weekend we did an official City Tour which allowed us to go into the cathedral and learn more about it. One painting we found VERY interesting was the Last Supper; only Judas was brown-faced, the rest were white. It is rumored that the spaniards made the artist paint it that way after they conquered the city. We also toured some Inca temples that had been partially ruined by the Spanish. We learned that the Spanish would destroy the Inca Temples and build cathedrals over the ruins. I guess that's one way of "sharing" religion.
We also visited Sacsayhuaman which is a walled complex on the north side of Cuzco. It is located on a steep hill that overlooks the city so it had some amazing views. Some believe it was built to represent the head of the Puma, the shape that is made together with Cuzco when seen from above. It was also made in order to honor the lightning God. You can see this in the zigzag shape of the outer walls. Looks as much like lightning as any stone wall ever could.
Three other historic sites that we were able to see were Pucu Pucara, Qenko and Tambomachay. Pucu Pakara was thought to be used as a fortress and a resting place for travelers. Qenko was an ancient Incan tomb with a sacrificial table inside and Tambomachay was a resting spa with an Eternal Fountain of Water. The conclusion of this tour took us to an Alpaca factory outlet where Darren bought a new beanie (the first of probably 10 between the two of us).
On Monday we went on the Sacred Valley Tour. Although it was promised that the tour would be done only in English, it was not. The tour guide would say something in Spanish, then repeat it in English. Since Spanish was his native language, he had a whole lot more to say in Spanish than English. Kind of a bummer because I felt like I didn’t get as much information.
Our first stop was Pisac, the ancient citadel that used to control key routes of the Inca Empire. It is set high above a valley floor patch-worked by patterned fields and rimmed by vast terracing. There is a Sun Temple among other ruins and ancient burial sites. As Cuzco is built in the shape of a Puma, Pisac is built in the shape of a partridge.
After Pisac we visited Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo was a town, a ceremonial center and a place of battle between the Incas and the Spanish. The terraces at this place were crazy! So incredibly large and steep. Cool story: when the Spanish came to battle against the Incas, the Incas flooded the wells/reservoirs at the bottom of the terraces so when the Spanish came riding up to the temple/fortress, their horses got stuck in the mud. There was also a huge ramp on one side of the fortress. This is how they rolled the stones up to the top of the fortress while building it. I still don’t understand how they got these huge stones from 50 miles away, on the other side of a huge mountain range. Super human powers these Incas!
Our last stop was Chincheros. We watched a demonstration by some local women on how to dye cloth and wool using roots, plants and other natural resources. I think it’s awesome how they still use so much of the land for the things they make. “This plant when ground makes the color purple. This root when chopped up and mixed with water washes and bleaches the wool before we dye it.” Awesome!! At the end of the demonstration they gave us a sample of chicha morada, a Peruvian drink derived from purple maize (corn), boiled pineapple rind, cinnamon and cloves. At the time I didn’t know if it was fermented or not (as most chicha is) so I put a little on my tongue and then dumped out the rest. And where was Darren’s? All gone…sinner. LOL! We did hear that often times chicha is made by grinding and moistening the corn in the mouth and then rolling it into balls which are eventually flattened and dried. The enzymes in the saliva help break down the starches in the corn making the process a little easier. That takes "swapping spit" to an all new level.
Tuesday we headed to Aguas Calientes via PeruRail in order to visit Machu Picchu early Wednesday morning. The scenery was very pretty and green. We sat across from an older Argentine couple and had fun talking with them most of the way. The older man would not stop talking. He kept us laughing for quite a while. The train became extremely hot around 10am due to the windows on the top of the train. The sun beat down on us for the entire trip.
Once we arrived in Aguas Calientes, we purchased our Machu Picchu passes and bus tickets for the following morning, then went looking for a place to stay. We ended up staying at a little hostel called Wiracocha. Not great, not terrible. Here’s the thing about Aguas Calientes, based on our own experience as well as other fellow travelers and reviews. It is the gateway city to Machu Picchu. There are no other options. If you want to ascend to Machu Piccu early in the morning (which is highly recommended), then you have to stay the night in Aguas Calientes. So needless to say, there is little motivation among the hotel owners to make their accommodations…great. The worse part is the bug splatters on the room walls. Since the river runs right through Aguas Calientes, there are A LOT of insects. Since it’s a never-ending battle, I guess it seems pointless to clean the bugs off the walls while cleaning the room. Who knows? Oh it makes me laugh just thinking about it now. haha. Gotta love it :) There were some perks though. Being right next to the river we were able to hear the trickling of water outside our “closed” window.
For lunch we ate a veggie pizza at Chez Maggy and for dinner we ate a veggie burrito and lentils at a restaurant off the plaza (yes...at this point we were still vegetarians). It started to rain during dinner so we had to wait until it subsided a little before we made our way back to the hotel.
The next morning we woke up at 4:15am and at 4:45am the nice old man at the hotel got up to make us breakfast. So sweet. After breakfast we walked downtown to get in line for the bus to Machu Picchu. I couldn’t believe how long of a line there was already. It was only 5:15am. We got a stamp on our ticket to be able to climb Wayna Picchu at 7am, which we were really excited about. After riding the bus to the top of the mountain, we entered the park and got our first glance of Machu Picchu. OH MY GOSH!! AMAZING!! I don’t care how many magazines you have seen it in or how many episodes of National Geographic you have watched, you have not seen it until you have seen it in person.
After taking a few pictures, we made our way through the ruins to the far side of Machu Picchu to get in line for our hike up Wayna Picchu (if looking at the famous silhouetted face, Wayna Picchu is the nose). It was a beautiful yet treacherous hike. The path leading up to the top of the mountain was extremely steep. Then once it started raining, the stones became incredibly slick. It was quite a workout to make it to the top. Once we reached the top, we were disappointed that we could not see the valley or ruins below due to the thick cloud cover. After climbing some final steps and crawling through a short tunnel hewn through the rock, we were officially on the peak. Wow! What an accomplishment!
On top of the peak are the remains of an old fortress/temple. A few of the buildings still have their rock frames but most of it is just piles of old stone. One building looked like an old stone house. We were able to walk through it and look through the windows to the cloud-covered valley below. It made me imagine what it would have been like to live up here. Crazy, cool view!
After taking some pictures, we sat down and ate lunch while hanging our feet off the edge of the cliff. After taking some fun pictures and resting a bit, we decided to make our way down. As we started to descend, a slight wind started up and behold…the clouds were swept away allowing for an AMAZING view of Machu Picchu below. Again…AMAZING!! I just don’t know how else to describe it.
The hike down was fun (and treacherous). It was neat to see the ruins and valley below as we descended. After we reached the bottom, we went back to the entrance to join with our tour group. Our guide, Pedro, was very thorough and provided us with a lot of great information.
After a fun day of touring, we took a bus back down the mountain to Aguas Calientes, ate some lunch and boarded our train back to Cuzco. We arrived in Cuzco at around 9:30pm. What a spectacular day! One that I will never forget :)
The next day we shopped around San Blas a bit for some Christmas gifts and souvenirs (felt paintings of Incan Kings, pajama pants, scarves, and beanies). We then went to a museum and to a theatre to watch a performance demonstrating some of the native Peruvian dances.
The following day we boarded a plane to Santiago, Chile!! We were excited about our upcoming Chilean adventures but we were extremely sad to leave Peru :( We had some amazing times there (even despite the life-threatening food poisoning). Hopefully we will be back someday.
We finally arrived in Cuzco. YAY!! Our first feat was to make our way through the swarm of not-so-honest taxi drivers outside the airport. Luckily I had asked our landlady how much it should be from the airport to the apartment (8 soles) because some of these guys were quoting us 20 or 30. Crazy!!
The apartment was on the 3rd floor which allowed for an amazing view of the city below but also presented a challenge due to our two large suitcases. Darren did an amazing job maneuvering his way up the narrow, winding staircase.
The city of Cuzco was a lot of fun. There was an overabundance of tourists and vendors but it was a fun city nonetheless. The plaza consisted of old buildings and cathedrals and was a fun place to sit and people-watch.
We relaxed for the first couple of days in order to acclimate to the elevation change and to get some much needed sleep. Later that weekend we did an official City Tour which allowed us to go into the cathedral and learn more about it. One painting we found VERY interesting was the Last Supper; only Judas was brown-faced, the rest were white. It is rumored that the spaniards made the artist paint it that way after they conquered the city. We also toured some Inca temples that had been partially ruined by the Spanish. We learned that the Spanish would destroy the Inca Temples and build cathedrals over the ruins. I guess that's one way of "sharing" religion.
We also visited Sacsayhuaman which is a walled complex on the north side of Cuzco. It is located on a steep hill that overlooks the city so it had some amazing views. Some believe it was built to represent the head of the Puma, the shape that is made together with Cuzco when seen from above. It was also made in order to honor the lightning God. You can see this in the zigzag shape of the outer walls. Looks as much like lightning as any stone wall ever could.
Three other historic sites that we were able to see were Pucu Pucara, Qenko and Tambomachay. Pucu Pakara was thought to be used as a fortress and a resting place for travelers. Qenko was an ancient Incan tomb with a sacrificial table inside and Tambomachay was a resting spa with an Eternal Fountain of Water. The conclusion of this tour took us to an Alpaca factory outlet where Darren bought a new beanie (the first of probably 10 between the two of us).
On Monday we went on the Sacred Valley Tour. Although it was promised that the tour would be done only in English, it was not. The tour guide would say something in Spanish, then repeat it in English. Since Spanish was his native language, he had a whole lot more to say in Spanish than English. Kind of a bummer because I felt like I didn’t get as much information.
Our first stop was Pisac, the ancient citadel that used to control key routes of the Inca Empire. It is set high above a valley floor patch-worked by patterned fields and rimmed by vast terracing. There is a Sun Temple among other ruins and ancient burial sites. As Cuzco is built in the shape of a Puma, Pisac is built in the shape of a partridge.
After Pisac we visited Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo was a town, a ceremonial center and a place of battle between the Incas and the Spanish. The terraces at this place were crazy! So incredibly large and steep. Cool story: when the Spanish came to battle against the Incas, the Incas flooded the wells/reservoirs at the bottom of the terraces so when the Spanish came riding up to the temple/fortress, their horses got stuck in the mud. There was also a huge ramp on one side of the fortress. This is how they rolled the stones up to the top of the fortress while building it. I still don’t understand how they got these huge stones from 50 miles away, on the other side of a huge mountain range. Super human powers these Incas!
Our last stop was Chincheros. We watched a demonstration by some local women on how to dye cloth and wool using roots, plants and other natural resources. I think it’s awesome how they still use so much of the land for the things they make. “This plant when ground makes the color purple. This root when chopped up and mixed with water washes and bleaches the wool before we dye it.” Awesome!! At the end of the demonstration they gave us a sample of chicha morada, a Peruvian drink derived from purple maize (corn), boiled pineapple rind, cinnamon and cloves. At the time I didn’t know if it was fermented or not (as most chicha is) so I put a little on my tongue and then dumped out the rest. And where was Darren’s? All gone…sinner. LOL! We did hear that often times chicha is made by grinding and moistening the corn in the mouth and then rolling it into balls which are eventually flattened and dried. The enzymes in the saliva help break down the starches in the corn making the process a little easier. That takes "swapping spit" to an all new level.
Tuesday we headed to Aguas Calientes via PeruRail in order to visit Machu Picchu early Wednesday morning. The scenery was very pretty and green. We sat across from an older Argentine couple and had fun talking with them most of the way. The older man would not stop talking. He kept us laughing for quite a while. The train became extremely hot around 10am due to the windows on the top of the train. The sun beat down on us for the entire trip.
Once we arrived in Aguas Calientes, we purchased our Machu Picchu passes and bus tickets for the following morning, then went looking for a place to stay. We ended up staying at a little hostel called Wiracocha. Not great, not terrible. Here’s the thing about Aguas Calientes, based on our own experience as well as other fellow travelers and reviews. It is the gateway city to Machu Picchu. There are no other options. If you want to ascend to Machu Piccu early in the morning (which is highly recommended), then you have to stay the night in Aguas Calientes. So needless to say, there is little motivation among the hotel owners to make their accommodations…great. The worse part is the bug splatters on the room walls. Since the river runs right through Aguas Calientes, there are A LOT of insects. Since it’s a never-ending battle, I guess it seems pointless to clean the bugs off the walls while cleaning the room. Who knows? Oh it makes me laugh just thinking about it now. haha. Gotta love it :) There were some perks though. Being right next to the river we were able to hear the trickling of water outside our “closed” window.
For lunch we ate a veggie pizza at Chez Maggy and for dinner we ate a veggie burrito and lentils at a restaurant off the plaza (yes...at this point we were still vegetarians). It started to rain during dinner so we had to wait until it subsided a little before we made our way back to the hotel.
The next morning we woke up at 4:15am and at 4:45am the nice old man at the hotel got up to make us breakfast. So sweet. After breakfast we walked downtown to get in line for the bus to Machu Picchu. I couldn’t believe how long of a line there was already. It was only 5:15am. We got a stamp on our ticket to be able to climb Wayna Picchu at 7am, which we were really excited about. After riding the bus to the top of the mountain, we entered the park and got our first glance of Machu Picchu. OH MY GOSH!! AMAZING!! I don’t care how many magazines you have seen it in or how many episodes of National Geographic you have watched, you have not seen it until you have seen it in person.
After taking a few pictures, we made our way through the ruins to the far side of Machu Picchu to get in line for our hike up Wayna Picchu (if looking at the famous silhouetted face, Wayna Picchu is the nose). It was a beautiful yet treacherous hike. The path leading up to the top of the mountain was extremely steep. Then once it started raining, the stones became incredibly slick. It was quite a workout to make it to the top. Once we reached the top, we were disappointed that we could not see the valley or ruins below due to the thick cloud cover. After climbing some final steps and crawling through a short tunnel hewn through the rock, we were officially on the peak. Wow! What an accomplishment!
On top of the peak are the remains of an old fortress/temple. A few of the buildings still have their rock frames but most of it is just piles of old stone. One building looked like an old stone house. We were able to walk through it and look through the windows to the cloud-covered valley below. It made me imagine what it would have been like to live up here. Crazy, cool view!
After taking some pictures, we sat down and ate lunch while hanging our feet off the edge of the cliff. After taking some fun pictures and resting a bit, we decided to make our way down. As we started to descend, a slight wind started up and behold…the clouds were swept away allowing for an AMAZING view of Machu Picchu below. Again…AMAZING!! I just don’t know how else to describe it.
The hike down was fun (and treacherous). It was neat to see the ruins and valley below as we descended. After we reached the bottom, we went back to the entrance to join with our tour group. Our guide, Pedro, was very thorough and provided us with a lot of great information.
After a fun day of touring, we took a bus back down the mountain to Aguas Calientes, ate some lunch and boarded our train back to Cuzco. We arrived in Cuzco at around 9:30pm. What a spectacular day! One that I will never forget :)
The next day we shopped around San Blas a bit for some Christmas gifts and souvenirs (felt paintings of Incan Kings, pajama pants, scarves, and beanies). We then went to a museum and to a theatre to watch a performance demonstrating some of the native Peruvian dances.
The following day we boarded a plane to Santiago, Chile!! We were excited about our upcoming Chilean adventures but we were extremely sad to leave Peru :( We had some amazing times there (even despite the life-threatening food poisoning). Hopefully we will be back someday.
